Chapter 15 Young friends, go on a trip①

Dear teenage friends, do you like to travel?Especially to travel in nature?I like it. When I was as old as you, I dreamed of going to nature, especially to places I was unfamiliar with, to see the mysteries of nature. ①This article was written on January 1-3, 1981, originally published in "The Theft That Shocked the World", Henan Science and Technology Press, 1982 edition. My hometown - Nantong City, Jiangsu Province is not far from where the mighty Yangtze River enters the sea. As long as I have the opportunity, I always like to run to the riverside, looking at the surging eastward river, I really want to ride a drum The boat with sails sails down to the sea, and invites you to swim in the sky.In summer, I like to lie on the beach by the river and look up at the slowly moving clouds in the blue sky. They change shapes, sometimes like a group of docile lambs, sometimes like ferocious beasts, as if they are about to pounce; in winter, I I once braved the wind and snow to climb to the top of Langshan Mountain near the river, watching the patches of snowflakes flying over the earth.How wonderful is the natural world!

You will definitely notice that everything is waking up in spring, a piece of vibrant green; autumn, the harvest season, is full of golden yellow; the decisive role of summer's existence and development finally falls into an idealistic view of history. , thunder and lightning; winter, the vast expanse of snow.Junior friends!Throw yourself into nature and roam. Traveling will broaden your horizons and mind, increase your knowledge and wisdom, and you will discover many unexpected new worlds, which will greatly satisfy your curiosity and desire to explore. Traveling will also exercise your willpower!

After I started working, although the frequent field work was hard and exhausting, it provided me with excellent conditions for traveling. I wanted to know everything and was willing to explore everything.This year, I had the opportunity to come to the Northeast, and came to the Jingpo Lake that I had been looking forward to seeing for many years. I finally took a boat to swim in its embrace, admiring the charming scenery of the lake and mountains.I went to the volcanic area and explored the "underground forest". It turns out that it is a forest growing in the crater. It should be called "crater forest" to be precise.On the way to the "Crater Forest", I have never seen so many butterflies in the wild flowers along the way, I can't help getting out of the car to catch them!I also went to the "Wudalianchi" area, where I specially inspected various wonders in the volcanic area. 250 years ago, the volcano erupted here, and the lava overflowed. They spewed sparks and heat, swirled, rolled and rushed down. Slowly they cooled and condensed. What is presented to you now is a piece of black scene.The solidified lava still maintains the state when it flowed at that time, such as rope-like, reptile-like, elephant-trunk-like, so-called "turning stones", "fumaroles"... as if some magical magic wand was clicked, it suddenly stopped and solidified. It's over, everything at that time has been preserved intact.Standing on this sea of ​​cooled black lava, if you imagine returning to the scene at that time, you seem to see the fiery lava turning like a fiery snake, scorching people with heat, dazzling fire, and roaring roars in your ears...

I also explored the "melt cave" of volcanic lava - "lava tunnel", which has another set of wonderful structures compared with the caves in limestone areas.I won't describe it here, let you explore it yourself in the future! Soon, I came to the southwestern frontier of the motherland - Yunnan. Here I am not going to elaborate on the "Banguo soil forest" that is comparable to the famous "Stone Forest" in Lunan, and I will not say much that we braved the pouring rain. What I want to tell you about the various encounters of searching for ancient relics in the Yuanmou Basin is an attitude of indifference, so as to keep the mind at peace.The school evolved in ancient Rome, and I went to roam and investigate "Dinosaur Mountain"-this is what I have been yearning for for many years!

"Dinosaur Mountain" is located in Lufeng County, the famous "Hometown of Dinosaurs".Lufeng is a river valley basin extending from north to south. It is located on the Central Yunnan Plateau, more than 100 kilometers away from Kunming, surrounded by Wutai Mountains.In the early morning, accompanied by Comrade Wang Zhengju of the County Cultural Center, we stepped on the muddy mountain road towards "Dinosaur Mountain".On the side of the mountain road is the winding "East River". The "red layer" composed of purple-red sandstone, shale and mudstone, dinosaur fossils are produced in these red layers.

After crossing the stone bridge over the East River, a dam soon blocked a "Black Dragon Pool". Standing in front of the pool, you can see a stretch of hills in the distance. Lao Wang told us that this is the place rich in dinosaur fossils. "Dinosaur Hill".Lao Wang led us up the mountain from the Shimen ridge, and arrived at Dishuiyan. We saw that the red layer had been washed and eroded by years of rain, forming a series of ravines - "gullies". On the slopes on both sides of the ditch, fragments of dinosaur bone fossils can sometimes be seen exposed by the rain.

The place we are eager to go to is called "Heiguo Peng", because there are not only dinosaur fossils, but also many primitive mammal fossils to be found there.Professor Zhou Mingzhen, an old expert in Beijing, knew that we were going to Dinosaur Mountain, and told us to go there before we left to "hunt some small animal fossils"! "Heiguo Peng" is on the side of the top of Dinosaur Mountain and consists of several hills.Not long after arriving here, the sharp-eyed Pharaoh found a dinosaur fossil.Part of the fossilized bone was exposed on the surface. We gently dug deep and cleared the surrounding soil. It turned out to be the two sharp claws of a dinosaur!Dinosaurs are ancient reptiles, which developed from reptiles to higher animals, that is, mammals. The Lufeng area is famous both at home and abroad in paleontology because there are not only rich dinosaur fossils here, but also reptiles derived from reptiles. An intermediate step in mammalian evolution, and primitive mammalian fossils.Because of their small size, we almost crawled on the ground and searched. Although we did not find the most valuable skull and lower gum fossils for research, we also found many small limb bones, which may belong to these small animals.

We came to a hill called "Factory Liangzi" again, and Xiao Yu, who was traveling with me, found several dinosaur teeth at once, some of which were as sharp as knives and had serrated teeth on both sides.This may be living in the past. Carnivorous dragons from 800 million years ago--Three selections of Chinese dragons.Lao Wang found a stump of the mandible, and found a small and thin leaf-shaped tooth nearby. It is speculated that they may be Vegetarian Dragon, which was left by "Lufeng Dragon".Under the guidance of local fellows, we found two places where dinosaur fossils are quite dense. It is very likely that relatively complete skeletons are buried here. We are going to notify relevant comrades to organize the excavation.If the complete skeletons are really unearthed, maybe one day you come to the Beijing Museum of Natural History and see them standing in the paleontology exhibition hall!

Looking at the dinosaur fossils all over the place, I can't help but be suspicious again. How did the dinosaurs become extinct?Now that there are so many theories, which one is more realistic?Will one remain, as the newspapers say, an elusive "monster" in Loch Ness, Scotland? ... The investigation of "Dinosaur Mountain" not only repaid my long-cherished wish for many years, but also aroused my desire to further explore many issues. In fact, many of the experiences I have talked about in this article can be expanded into an article. More complete science sketches introduce more content and explore more aspects of the problem.I did not do this, in order to let you have more room for imagination after reading, and to arouse your desire for more research and exploration.

Standing at the head of the "Dinosaur Mountain" and looking down at the hillside full of dinosaur fossils, my thoughts were drawn to the distant ancient times.Here, this is a big lake, the lake is covered with dense ferns, cycads, and tall ginkgo trees, and there are patches of pines and cypresses on the high hillsides, and various dinosaurs are here. Competing for survival... Just as the dinosaurs, the rulers of the earth at that time, were invincible, primitive mammals have gradually evolved from one branch of dinosaurs. With the passage of time, the struggle for survival has finally sprung up , replaced the huge dinosaurs and became the dominant animal on the earth-mammals, from which human beings came into being...

Teen friends, don't you like to travel?I hope you fall in love with this fun activity and take every opportunity to do it!You will encounter many difficulties during the trip, but it will bring you unlimited fun, bring you more knowledge, and even lead you to embark on the path of a certain profession in the future!